Yes, I know that title is weird grammar, but there’s a reason. Really. I felt prompted to read Matthew 11:6, and the order of the sentence there struck me as odd. It’s different from my other versions–not incorrect as far as I can tell, but different. Here it is:

Mat 11:6 And if anyone is not offended because of Me, he is blessed.” (HCSB)

This struck me because it seems to imply that the act of being offended could be the thing that stops the blessing, and the converse: that not being offended because of Jesus could also invite His blessing. Certainly being offended would close the door, and not being offended would tend to open it. Here’s what I believe I heard from God on this (keep in mind that “you” in these journal entries almost always means “you all”):

All who are offended by Me are fallen prey to the evil one. No one in his house who does not hear My voice desires to leave, for he says, “This is the best and true way.” All they who continue to eat of his food shall be condemned. So shall they who drink of his wine. For his wine is the spirit of inequity, and his food is pride. Therefore, all who have eaten and drunk in his kingdom are poisoned, deceived, blinded.

Nevertheless, I have called you out, My Bride, a remnant for Myself. Not because you were the wisest, most intelligent, most beautiful or successful, but because looking on you, I loved you. You are My beloved, and you shall come out/have come out/are coming out. Not even the smallest part of you shall remain in his kingdom.

Don’t look back; Flee! And if you see some on your journey carrying heavy loads of former affections, help them to lay those encumbrances down and go on from there freely. And if you are dragging along anything not of Me, lay it down–whether physical, mental, material, or spiritual.

I have everything you need. Don’t think that you will provide your own needs. None of the “stuff” is coming with you. Why lug it to the gates, only to lay it there and go on without it? If you need anything, I will provide it. And if you share with others that provision, will I not provide enough for both of you to have plenty? Yet you wander about in search of this life’s goods.

Leave off! No longer will you find your satisfaction there. Only that which is of Me will last, and everything you choose to take My place will be taken from you.

This is necessary for your purification. Strip off the old and put on the new–the garments I provide. What bride wears old dresses underneath her bridal gown? Throw off the old, soiled garments. I will wash you, but the old rags cannot be redeemed. Come into Me, My Love, and let Me cleanse you and robe you according to My glory. Then you will be a radiant and glorious bride, without spot or wrinkle, and in that day, My heart will rejoice in your splendor.

The picture of a bride (the church) trying to fasten her wedding gown over a bunch of old, filthy dresses (the things of the world she is not willing to let go) particularly struck me. If we are to be the bride of Christ, we have to “forget our people and our father’s house.” (Ps 45:10) This doesn’t refer to friends and family, but to the practices and affections and affectations of this world–and of him who is the prince of this world, Satan. All that “stuff” and the love of “stuff,” we have to leave behind if we are to enter into the glory of our Lord.

All those things you don’t want to let go, and you know Jesus is telling you to let go? Throw, cast, fling them from you as though they were deadly poison. They are. Only Jesus matters, and those things are keeping you from Him. He will not marry a bride who is wearing old clothes under her wedding gown. He wants a companion who is holy, and wholly focused on Him–who is truly His alone.

I sat down to spend some time with God, and I closed my eyes to just relax and kind of clear my mind from all the daily jangle we all collect. As soon as I did this, a picture flashed in my imagination–very clear, like you’d see if you were there in person–of water rippling, reflecting colors, some reds, whites, like boats or something, and light of course–the way water does. That was all. I watched to see if there was more, but there wasn’t.

Without really thinking about it, I opened my bible at random. This is a thing I almost never do. Usually I have somewhere in particular to go, or I have some reference I feel God is speaking to me. This time, it was just random. The thing I read was a passage from 2 Corinthians 6 and 7 about being separated from the world:

(2Co 6:14-7:1) Do not be mismatched with unbelievers. For what partnership is there between righteousness and lawlessness? Or what fellowship does light have with darkness? What agreement does Christ have with Belial? Or what does a believer have in common with an unbeliever? And what agreement does God’s sanctuary have with idols? For we are the sanctuary of the living God, as God said: I will dwell among them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be My people.

Therefore, come out from among them and be separate, says the Lord; do not touch any unclean thing, and I will welcome you. I will be a Father to you, and you will be sons and daughters to Me, says the Lord Almighty.

Therefore dear friends, since we have such promises, we should wash ourselves clean from every impurity of the flesh and spirit, making our sanctification complete in the fear of God. (Holman)

I asked, “Lord, what do You want to say to me?” This is what I believe I heard from Him. (My explanations of what these words meant to me are in parenthesis.)

Wash yourself. Come clean, Child. Clean, pure water gives the best, lovliest reflections, even as you see through the water right down to the riverbed. Murky water also reflects, but it is not transparent, and the reflection suffers. It will be flat and lifeless, with no light behind it. Murky water reflects only from its surface layer, while pure, clear water reflects all through. The light bounces around within it, enlightening even the deepest parts.

(Believers reflect Christ to the world–our ability to do this accurately suffers if we cling to the things of the world.)

Menus. The world’s nourishments are sickening to the heart of My children. None of their foods are suitable for you, My Children. Let Me be your food and drink. Let Me be all to you. (Obviously, He is talking about spiritual sustenance, not physical food.)

Water is cleaned by taking it, as vapor, up into the sky. Thus I remove all impurities regularly. Likewise you must be cleansed by daily drawing you up to Me. Impurities are also left behind in the clouds as the water vapor freezes and other vapors, more volatile, waft away. I purify you, My Bride, but you dissolve all that you take in. Keep yourselves, therefore, only unto Me. (The bride is a frequent New Testament metaphor for the church.)

I asked, “Are You saying, ‘No movies, music, etc. not dedicated to You?'”

No, it’s not that simple. You don’t keep yourself pure by obeying rules. You need to understand how very “other” you are with reference to the world. You must resist the tendency and temptation to take in the world’s values, desires, even its “common sense,” for I have My own uncommon sense, and what seems foolish to the world may be wisdom to Me. I will show you as you walk along, if you remember to walk along side by side with Me. Hand in hand, I will show you one thing and then another.

You can only just barely imagine what I have in store for you, for I am the most surprising, surpassing, unpredictable guide you could possibly have. Don’t try to equate or compare Me with the world and anything of the world. I’m not even on the radar. You are in a whole other, bigger, vaster, more-alive-than-you-could-possibly-imagine world when you walk with Me.

I have freed you from this world. You are dead to it. You no longer belong in it, but only walk here as a subversive element from Me. (That is, subversive against spiritual wickedness.) You are in it, but not of it. Don’t try to fit in. You are Mine. You’re supposed to stick out. Keep the mud out of the water. Mud never becomes water. Water does not redeem mud, nor make it better by mixing with it. The water is fouled–nothing more.

Come out of the present age, Daughter. Do not soil yourself with it. You must shine with the purity of who you are in Me. Otherwise how will anyone notice you are different? The garment soiled by the flesh is not suitable for My bride.

Kind of along the same lines as my earlier post, Render Unto Caesar. God seems to stay on a subject with me once He introduces it. I had a dream a few nights ago involving a river that also develops this subject. I’ll post it–or some of it–soon.

9/16/09: This word has some history. I’m reading a book right now that, while I’m sure it has a lot of good stuff in it, is a bit discouraging at the start. The book asserts that no one can do organic church without a trainer and/or personal experience. Since that’s exactly what we’re doing, you may understand that I found this discouraging. There is, so far as I know, no help available for a small group of believers in a small town, so what are we supposed to do?

Anyway, I was trying to meditate on John 4, which is what the church is reading just now, but God knew what I truly needed to hear. As always, eat the grain; throw out the stubble (that part–the stubble–is the bits of me I failed to see and toss out).

I AM, and the things I do, I do in My own way. You no longer have that endless expanse of years stretching out before you. Behold; I do a new work and all who see will marvel. Can a nation be born in a day? And yet it (Israel) is. Let this be a sign to you. Can a church spontaneously spring up of its own volition? I say to you that I do not require a human agency to bring this about. No one but I can build My church. I will send to you whom I will send, and you do not need or require a human agency to springboard you into effectiveness. My word to you is this: Send your desires into My harvest and I will fulfill them. No other than I Myself will guide you, yet you will walk in My paths.

The time is short, and human agency (or lack of it) must not stand in the way of those who would work in the harvest. I Myself am sufficient to guide you, and I will guide you in My paths. Only see that you do not neglect to walk in those ways I point out to you. I will be waiting there for you and we will go on together. Always it must be so: I call; you come. So we will make our journey. The closer to Me you are willing to come, the better and faster we will go on. Do not hang back, enthralled by the things of interest along the trail, or you will neglect My company. Do not leave My path; do not lose sight of Me, or you will wander in darkness and never bear fruit to life eternal.

Too much of My church will straggle along, never knowing the richness of My company on the journey because they lag back and do not obey My commands to draw near. Like children, I must gather them again and again and urge them on. Do not remain so, but grow up into My mature sons and daughters to whom I can entrust My work–My important jobs–to whom I can say, “Do this,” and know it will be done. Delayed obedience is like smoke in My eyes–an irritant and a painful nuisance. Just do what I say when I say it–not three weeks later. Then we will be walking side by side, arm in arm, and the way will pass so much more sweetly.

One night I had a wondrous dream,
One set of footprints there was seen,
The footprints of my precious Lord,
But mine were not along the shore.

But then some stranger prints appeared,
And I asked the Lord, “What have we here?”
Those prints are large and round and neat,
“But Lord they are too big for feet.”

“My child,” He said in somber tones,
“For miles I carried you alone.
I challenged you to walk in faith,
But you refused and made me wait.”

“You disobeyed, you would not grow,
The walk of faith, you would not know.
So I got tired, I got fed up,
and there I dropped you on your butt.”

“Because in life, there comes a time,
when one must fight, and one must climb.
When one must rise and take a stand,
or leave their butt prints in the sand.”

How perfect is this? And to top it off, God has been prodding me to get off mine and get moving. He is so patient to keep calling us like so many inattentive children. At some point, though, He does mean for us to grow up. He’s been giving me some things in this vein lately. Here’s one:

9/11/09 The verse: “Your word have I hidden in my heart that I might not sin against You” came to my mind.

Hide My words in your heart. Tuck them into all the secret places where you secret your great and lovely treasures.

Lord, what treasures could I have but You? What could please me above Your love?

See to it you remember this, My beloved. Kindness does not call rubbish by any other name. Rid yourself of all that weighs you down and holds you back. You need nothing beside Me, and as you go, your needs–all of them–will be met as they come up.

(I got a picture in my mind of a scene from Romancing the Stone in which the heroine is carrying two huge suitcases down a muddy road in Columbia, wearing high-heeled shoes, fuming because the hero does not offer to carry the cases for her. When he does take the suitcases, it is only to throw them off the road, down into the jungle below.)

(I also got a picture of myself wandering through a huge cave with lots of nice tall passages and rooms. In every nook was some kind of an ornament. Some of them were really cheesy and some were beautiful works of art or gemstones, etc. I had a beautiful gem, flashing light, and I couldn’t find a place to put it. I had to throw out one of the horrible, cheesy ornaments to find a spot for it. I couldn’t believe I had ever wanted the thing in the first place. I saw this as a picture of me wandering through my own heart.)

Continue to seek Me–you must not grow weary in this. I sustain you with Myself, and though you may feel unable to go on, yet a few more steps and you will find you can go a few more. There are times for struggling and pressing through, just as there are seasons of refreshment, and I am with you in all these things. You are more than victorious in My victory. Come.

There’s more, but I’ll get back to you on that in a day or two. For now, abide in Him and in love for one another.

Heed the warnings! This is the time to go over the ship and make sure everything is sound–it’s no good waiting for the hurricane to hit before you find you can’t batten down the hatches because the hardware has gone all loose and rusted. That said, the most ardent lovers of our Lord can still experience trepidation, thinking we will not have the strength to stand when the storm comes. This is so. Thank God, then, that it is not in our strength that we will have to trust. It is in His. Here is a word I believe He gave me last week as I meditated on the following passage:

Joh 1:1-5 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. All things were created through Him, and apart from Him not one thing was created that has been created. Life was in Him, and that life was the light of men. That light shines in the darkness, yet the darkness did not overcome it.

And here’s what I sensed Him saying to me. Modern English has no form for the word, “you” in the plural. Keep in mind, though, that “you” in this quotation is mostly plural. Oh, it’s singular, too, but beyond that, and primarily, it’s plural. So when you see “you,” apply it to yourself and your own band of brothers (and sisters, of course)!

From eternity, you were inside Me–in My heart. I have longed for you to be brought forth. My love is on you. How could I leave you in your blood and not take pity on you? (Ez 16:6) I called you and your heart cried out to Me, and we became one; locked together in an instant; fore-ordained in eternity past. You are My own dear one and I have known and loved you forever.

My blessed, My beloved child, hold onto Me and I will take you where I want you to be.

No more fretting and worry and tears.
Give now to Me all your frights and your fears.
You are My angel (messenger) to this dying world.
Through you shall My message to them be unfurled.
But always in comforting love I’ll enfold
the heart of the ones in My hand I do hold.
No one can take you from My holy presence;
no one estrange you from Him who has said
that you are His treasure; His remnant; His bride.
Run to My arms, Love. In Me shalt abide.
Here in My presence from evil shalt hide.

God does not always (or even often) take us out of the storm, but He does carry us through it to the other side.

Mat 10:28 Don’t fear those who kill the body but are not able to kill the soul; rather, fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.

Once our enemy has killed the body, there’s nothing else he can do to us. In that sense, we (and our loved ones in the Lord) are indestructible. We are in His hand–who is able to pluck us out? He will keep us, and we will stand fast, because He is able to make us stand.

I asked God what He’d like me to understand about glory, and He gave me this rather rambling reply. Yes, God rambles sometimes, too. 🙂 When I read back over it, though, I see it does fit together. But it wasn’t really what I expected. I think the reason is that, whatever I ask God, He always brings it back to what He wanted to say anyway, but He obligingly provides me with a link to my question. He’s so funny at times. Our dear, wonderful Abba who, despite our absolute unworthiness, loves and cares for us so tenderly.

As always, please pray over this and tell me honestly whether you think I’ve missed God on anything and feel free to also add anything He’s saying to you as you ponder.

Glory is that which is real and true and genuine shining out. Your glory is Me–My Spirit within you, your sonship (or daughtership)–your inherited traits, received at re-birth, manifesting that which has been born in you–the true Spirit of God who is now the source of your new, divine life. That is your glory.

Know Me for who I AM. As I reveal Myself to you, so display that in your lives. You are My image, My conduit, My message to the dark world. Do not try to display My glory–rather abide in Me. As you are transformed, My glory will be shown in the world. Abide in Me. Live every moment in Me. As the branch can do nothing without the vine, so you can produce nothing, have no divine life (or any other life) without Me. Do not mistake the natural system which I created, and which is even now winding down, for the life I am talking about. Yes, it contains life, but in finite amounts.

The true life burns in you like an ember. It is directly from Me. You must feed it with nourishment from My hand. Come to Me and feed on Me. I am the bread of life. When you feed on Me, when you take Me into yourself and allow My essence to transform you, that is when you become the offspring of God. It is the Spirit that gives life. The flesh profits nothing. Look not on the letter of the law, but on the Spirit. When you read the word, it is the Spirit that gives you understanding. The words, the language, are nothing more than the platter on which the true nourishment is carried. You need the platter. You need the vessel, but it is the food and drink you must take into yourselves. For too long you have relished and eaten the plate, the utensils, the drinking vessel. Stop it! Stop trying to eat the plate, you foolish children. Eat the food–drink the beverage. I am the true bread. My life’s blood–the life I poured out for you–drink that.

Abide in the vine. I am your source of life. You are My body. Draw your life from Me. Stay connected.

Do not say, “I am not being fed,” for I am your source. Others may give you a little of the life I have given them, but they cannot make you live. It is like putting cut flowers into water in a cool place. This does not give life, but only puts off death, or at least the appearance of death, for a time. Christians sitting in rows in “church” waiting to be fed is not like bottle feeding a baby, but more like Weekend at Bernie’s. Until you come to Me and cling to Me like a branch to the vine, there is no true life in you.

I am the glory of man. I am the life blood and the life itself, which shines out of My people, My bride. That is why you must attribute glory to Me. I am the source of all true glory. False glory brings death. It is a culture of death–a grotesque animation seeking the appearance of life, but having nothing of true, genuine life. Seek the glory that comes from God. Anything else is a lie–a deadly deception–false food. If you nourish yourself with bread that is not bread and appease your thirst with drink that is not drink, you will die. Eat the true bread and drink the true drink. Come to Me.